MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[abominable_snowman]

Glad to see there are still some people lounging around in the board.  I just got back from a work trip to Texas. 
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I like this discussion.  It makes me wonder what other states/regions are heavily skewed in a particular sport? Or perhaps what states produces the most/best collegiate/pro atheletes for a certain sport?

Basketball:
California?  But i could see one of the midwest states

Football:
Since I just came from there, TEXAS

Hockey:
As mentioned, Minnesota

Baseball?
....and for that matter

Soccer? Curling? Swimming? Track/field? Skiing? CHEERLEADING? Darts? Bowling? Archery? Weight lifting? Wrestling? Rugby? Lacrosse? Table Tennis? BEER PONG?

Basketball's really a broadly national sport ....... Pennsylvania in particular is known as the cradle of quarterbacks -- of 21 QBs inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the modern (post-WWII) era, six of them are from western Pennsylvania: George Blanda, Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, and Jim Kelly. And there's currently five western Pennsylvanians playing the position in the NFL: Marc Bulger, Bruce Gradkowski, Gus Frerotte, Mike McMahon, and Charlie Batch. That's a pretty astonishing legacy. ....

Indeed it is!  Thanks for the wonderful nationwide perspective.
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My props go out to Ohio for a well-fought tournment, and slightly restoring some of my faith to the Conference. With this type of run, and now Tubby in the land of 10,000 lakes....I'm starting to smell a new reputation.

[ustbumkneez]

OSUs push to the championship gives the conference a leg to stand on, Snow but it certainly wont cancel out the poor showing by the Big 10 as a whole in the tournament. Take away OSUs 4-1 record (the only conference team to make it past the first weekend), and the conference was only 4-5 (including Wisco as the only 2 seed to not make a regional final!). Purdue and MSU picked up nice wins in the first round (and the Boilermakers played Florida pretty tough throughout their second round matchup), and Indiana did pretty much the same thing (good first round win, played tough in a 2nd round matchup against a top 2 seed). Illinois SHOULD have won against Va Tech, but that collapse along with States dismal 2nd round performance, and the Badgers failure to make it out of the second round, wont stop the detractors from saying the Big 10 is overrated.

Hopefully, next year will be a bounce back year for the Big 10. With Tubby coming to the U, prime prospect Eric Gordon at Indiana, Conley Jr. back at OSU, Nietzel establishing himself as a premier national player, the Alford distraction removed from Iowa, and new direction for the Michigan program, it looks as if guys like Bilas might have to find a decent word or two for Big 10 ball.

[Nites]

Didn't he make some postgame comment last year about not doing homework too? How proud the NCAA must be.

I think he'd probably tell you he got an "A" on his homework after last night's game.  Isn't he a Basketball major?   

[ustbumkneez]

Isn't he a Basketball major?   

Haha, I bet youre right Nites, that was some final project-certainly "A" worthy. But lets at least give him his academic dues. Hes an anthropology major, who apparently loves class http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/sec/2006-10-26-florida-cover_x.htm

So much so that Donovan had to suspend him for half of an exhibition game this fall for being late to those classes that he loves so much. http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061106/NEWS/611060339/1002/SPORTS

[Mr. Ypsi]

Quite frankly, I'll be somewhat surprised if ANY of the NBA-bound Gators return to classes.

I'd be more upset about OSU's loss if they hadn't already lost to Xavier (if the refs had not been too gutless to call the intentional foul on Oden).

But flipping sides on Oden, he got reamed on the MOP selection - the voters obviously felt the winner HAD to be from the winning team.  Midway through the second half Oden had outscored and outrebounded the entire Gator frontline, and kept Noah on the bench with foul trouble (and fouled out Michael) - it was hardly his fault that his teammates went 2 of 20 from beyond the arc for the first 39 minutes!

[abominable_snowman]

call it personal bias, but I love a good shot blocker.  I gave Oden MOP after his double bicep pin of Brewer's layup.

[ustbumkneez]

I felt Brewer was justified as MOP, because he did everything for the Gators. Steals, blocks, outside shooting, slashing, distributing.  I dont think it was a slam dunk, considering how well Horford played for the Gators, but I have no qualms with him receiving the award. He played himself into the high lottery this weekend, thats for sure.

With that said, I'll agree with Ypsi, in that Oden was DOMINANT. He got no help from his teammates, who shot atrociously from outside, nor did he get any breaks from his coach! I understand its hard to get the ball to a post when youre not hitting from outside and the opponents are tripling teaming down low, but Oden was SCORING almost AT WILL on those triple teams. How does Matta justify the lack of touches for his big man? He should have gotten 25 shots, not 15.

Had he gotten the MOP, I wouldnt have had an issue with it. Mostly because of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_oXlvSmp4o

[abominable_snowman]

I felt Brewer was justified as MOP, because he did everything for the Gators. Steals, blocks, outside shooting, slashing, distributing.  I dont think it was a slam dunk, considering how well Horford played for the Gators, but I have no qualms with him receiving the award. He played himself into the high lottery this weekend, thats for sure.

With that said, I'll agree with Ypsi, in that Oden was DOMINANT. He got no help from his teammates, who shot atrociously from outside, nor did he get any breaks from his coach! I understand its hard to get the ball to a post when youre not hitting from outside and the opponents are tripling teaming down low, but Oden was SCORING almost AT WILL on those triple teams. How does Matta justify the lack of touches for his big man? He should have gotten 25 shots, not 15.

Had he gotten the MOP, I wouldnt have had an issue with it. Mostly because of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_oXlvSmp4o

since we are sharing Oden videos, here is the stuff i was referring to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mrw8PvtM090


AND agreed, no love lost for Brewer.  He is a solid player on both ends of the court.  He was especially proficient in the UCLA game.

[columbianmaffia]

that must have hurt when oden hip checked brewer in the doodads 

[ustbumkneez]

Also, as the MOP is for the Final Four and not just the Championship game, it would be hard to give the award to Oden, as he only played 20 minutes in the semis (and 13 pts 9 bds is average). Thats my only gripe with Oden as possible MOP. The almost dunk cant quite overcome that Gtown statline, even with the Billy Packer endorsement for Oden . Actually, thats probably the biggest reason Oden shouldnt have got it-we need not give Billy reasons to feel good about himself.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I'll have to agree with the Packer assessment, but note that even idiots can be right now and then!  (I'm exhibit A. )

While it's true that the MOP is for the FF, not just the championship game, the all-tourney team consisted of 3 Gators and 2 Buckeyes (the title game seems to be weighed much more heavily).  And Oden did not have a bad semi.  While he only played 18 minutes, so did Hibbert - and that proved even more costly to the Hoyas than to the hairy nuts.  It would have been a much more satisfying game if the refs had allowed Godzilla and King Kong to battle it out.

[ustbumkneez]

It would have been a much more satisfying game if the refs had allowed Godzilla and King Kong to battle it out.

No doubt, considering Oden-Hibbert was the first time since Ewing-Olajuwon (in 1984) that two legitimate, skilled 7 footers locked horns in a Final Four. The refs should have pocketed the whistles a little more and let those two go at one another; it wasnt going to benefit one of those teams more than the other to play a physical ball game. I completely agree with you there, they took away the most enticing subplot of that entire matchup.

But, Ypsi, as you stated, Hibberts foul trouble plagued the Hoyas more than Odens did the Buckeyes. And its not as if Oden drew the fouls on Hibbert either, as only 1 of Roy Roys fouls came when he was guarding the grizzled one. So I dont know that he made THAT big an impact for THAT game, especially considering Conley was the catalyst. Had Matta gotten Oden the 20+ shots he should have taken in the championship game, and given him some breaks early in the 2nd half to keep him relatively fresh for the stretch run, I think Oden would have had close to 40 points and become the first player from a losing squad to ever take the MOP. No doubt. Even with that less than stellar semi final.

Speaking of Billy, I wonder how much heat hes going to catch for saying Charlie Rose would "fag out" and bail when it came to fulfilling his promise of showing up at the Final Four (came across that when I was reading the Sports Guys latest blog entry). Considering Packers previous errors of judgment (Iverson the "tough monkey", for instance), Im interested as to what the response will be from CBS, as well as the general public.

[sumander]

From the recruiting news department.....Andrew Van Havermaet of Hawley and Jake Driscoll of Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton, Co Mvps of the Heart of Lakes Conference have made there school choices. VanHavermaet is going to Moorhead State and apparently Driscoll is going to opt for a couple more years of seasoning at Wahpeton Science.

Both are guards. I don't know if CORD was recruiting either one or not. VanHavermaet is listed at 6'4" and is a scorer. I think he would have been a real nice Dlll player.

[columbianmaffia]

great day for gopher football yesterday gettin maresh to commit...now i just need moblie and floyd to commit and i will have to eat a tripple burger with some extra hot sauce and a tall beer

[abominable_snowman]

just heard a rumor that tubby has a certain influence over a kentucky mcDonald's HS all-american who could possibly play for the gophs...

makes me wonder, who was the last non-mn all american to play as a gopher?